Why pull cheap freight.

If you don't think large companies don't haul cheap freight your foolish... We haul out of Upstate NY thru Marten Transport all the time. The load only pays the truck $1.00 a mile maybe $1.25 with fuel surcharge. The load goes 480 miles, 80% of the O/O wouldn't think twice of touching that load. Another example, we brokered a load of water thru Schneider one time out of Maine, load only pay $.80 a mile coming down to Maryland!!!

So are you really telling me that Schneider and Marten really have $2+ freight coming out of those Market's and keeping it on their company trucks??? One night a Marten Truck and I came down the road together picking up and going down to the same place, trying to tell me that My company got the cheap load and he got the high dollar load picking up and going to the same place because his was on the company truck?

Maybe I'm wrong but I've been a company driver (going O/O now) dealing with percentage for the 3 years, I don't got it down pat but i got a pretty good grasp on it. I know were most of the cheap lanes are, my advice is just stay the hell out of em... simple, get a good rate going in and do best you can going out or deadhead out, but that's not good enough for most truckers to understand.

 

My experience as company driver for Schneider is ..... now I can't be absolutely sure about this...... but I think that because they have to pay you for sitting, I think they sometimes book loads below profit just to keep you moving. I pulled some interesting loads during last January.

I'm not an owner op yet, just looking into it trying to learn as much as I can about the business, but it sounds like people accept cheap freight just because it's a sure bet. From what I can tell, there is lots and lots of uncertainty associated with owning your own truck, and "a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush" mentality starts to creep up on you.

It also sounds like a lot of the cheap freight is the result of smart brokers who know where all the truckers will want to get a back haul to go to. I've taken some business classes, and I think I have an idea of what's going on inside the broker's head. If you want to win the game, maybe you should try not to be so predictable? If you're out of Tennessee and the freight is headed to..um.. Tennessee, don't go thinking that the broker doesn't know you're trying to get home.

Has your company tried leaving portapotties out for them? As a driver if I pull into a shipper and they make me stay there for hours, and there's no bathroom available, I'd consider leaving a piss bottle on purpose as a message.

 

Now lets break it down
1. you hauling it through your company that got it from another trucking company so we have two companies that have to make money off the load or do you think they just passed all the money to you and said the heck with making overhead and a profit

2. Yes they do have $2+ and as high as $4 no it dont go to the truck how do you think they have all them people sitting in a office getting paid six figure plus living in million dollar homes driving $100K plus cars. They can demand higher rates because they can grantee service

3 Again yes Martin is not going to pay your company what they was paid they took their cut and your company got what was left

4 Percentage of what You can come to work for me and I will pay you 100 percent yep 100 percent of what I want to give you Remember your company print any paper they give you

 

They made a profit Companies set a profit margin if its below that margin they report it as a loss profit. When you read the market and it say YRC had a 300 million dollar loss that means they was 300 million below their margin. a company cant operate in the red they will go out of business fast. And they dont mind paying you a little pocket change to sit and wait on one of their customers to get a load ready especially one of the big ones that part of granteed service having a truck there to handle the load

 

All of this you just explained I already know, DUH!!!! smh... I'm talking about for specific markets, your trying to tell me that Western Express, Schneider, Swift, and Heartland Express is pulling water loads out the Northeast for $2 to $3 mile coming back south??

Trying to tell me that Mega's are pulling $2 to $3 mile loads coming out of Florida??

Trying to tell me that East Coast freight going back to the Midwest is Avg over $2.50 a mile?? Again I'm talking about certain lanes, not all freight!!!

 

that's not what I read in what plum crazy said,

 

Poland Spring pays really good.... the load is heavy, but that is one load that pays coming out of Maine.... I've never hauled it for less than $2.00 mi, and I've charged considerably more than $2.00 mi....

I won't haul anything for .80cpm, I'll deadhead before I lose money hauling somebody's load...

 

Different business models. When you are stuck in a load to load rate model you will likely end with a lower average. But if you run on an average rate, like most of the major carriers do, they can make a profit on $1.50 because they are getting the $2.50 or better going in.

Do you care who pays your rate? Or are you very specific on who pays you what?

 

Most of us up here do not haul that poland springs water.It is still very cheap at $2.00 a mile...You look at the toll's,weight at 45,000lbs,wear and tear and the waiting time.IMO it is not worth the aggravation...I usually go into Mass with alot of money and i figure 300 mile D/H into that rate.Just like i do if i go to Florida...

 

Exactly.... I run into West Texas, Laredo, Willston, and Florida all the time. I just add in my DH mileage into my rate that i request for the load. I have yet to be tunred down. All this while I avg $2.50+ mile to the truck and usually more. O/O's need to concentrate more on the revenue, knowing the area, and their operating costs rather than just getting a load for the day. Unfortunatley MOST guys out here live paycheck to paycheck and will never be able to break that mentality. I can easliy go a week or two w/o income BECAUSE I get the good rates going into bad areas, so my fule out is already covered when i go in.

Here are some expamles that I've done recently. All of these rates include the DH to the next good freight area....
and I figure my DH in at .50cpm

Chicago to Midland, TX - $3.15 mile to the truck with 500 miles DH figured in to get me back to Dallas

Chicago to Tampa, FL - $2.85 mile with 400 miles Dh to get me to Savanah or Jacksonville

PA to upper panhandle of TX - $4.23 mile with 350 miles DH to get me back to OKC.